Methods for forming shield materials onto inductive coils

ABSTRACT

Methods of and systems for directing flux from a transmit coil to a receive coil within an inductive power transfer system are disclosed. For example, a transmit coil may be shielded with a contoured shield made from a ferromagnetic material. The contoured shield may contour to several surfaces of the transmit coil so as to define a single plane through which flux may be directed to a receive coil.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments described herein relate to electromagnetic power transfersystems, and in particular to systems and methods for shieldingelectromagnetic coils for improved inductive power transfer.

BACKGROUND

Portable electronic devices may include one or more batteries that mayrequire recharging from time to time. Such devices may include electricvehicles, cell phones, smart phones, tablet computers, laptop computers,wearable devices, navigation devices, sports devices, health analysisdevices, medical data devices, location tracking devices, accessorydevices, home appliances, peripheral input devices, remote controldevices, and so on.

Some batteries may recharge wirelessly by accepting inductive powerprovided by an inductive power transmitter. For instance, abattery-powered electronic device configured to accept inductive powermay be placed nearby a transmitter adapted to produce inductive power.In these systems, a transmitting coil within the transmitter may producea time-varying magnetic flux that may induce a current within areceiving coil within the electronic device. The received current may beused by the electronic device to replenish the charge of a rechargeablebattery.

In many examples, the inductive power transmitter may transmit morepower than is received by the inductive power receiver. In other words,a portion of the magnetic flux produced by transmitter may not passthrough the receiving coil, but instead may pass through and disturbother components within the transmitter and/or receiver. This wastedpower is often dissipated as undesirable heat.

Accordingly, there may be a present need for an improved method ofdirecting flux from a transmit coil to a receive coil within aninductive power transfer system.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein may relate to, include, or take the form ofa shield for an annular coil including at least an outer portioncontoured to an outer sidewall of the annular coil, an inner portioncontoured to an inner sidewall of the annular coil, and a top portioncontoured to a top portion of the annular coil, wherein the top portioncouples the inner portion to the outer portion.

Other embodiments may include a configuration in which the shield may bemade from soft magnetic material. For example, the shield may be iron,iron silicate, iron-cobalt, manganese-zinc, nickel, or nickel-zinc. Infurther examples, the material selected for the shield may have arelatively high magnetic permeability. In other examples, the shield maybe made from a doped material selected such as plastic, glass, or anyother composite material. The dopant used may be a metal powder.

Certain embodiments may include a configuration in which the outerportion and inner portion of the shield are defined by a plurality ofindividual petals that are folded from the top portion of the shield. Inthese configurations, a filler material can be disposed betweenindividual petals.

Further embodiments may also include an adhesive layer disposed betweenthe shield and the annular coil. The adhesive layer may be a heatactivated film and, in some examples, may also be doped with metalpowder.

Other embodiments described herein may relate to, include, or take theform of an inductive charging system including an electronic devicehaving a rechargeable battery, a receive coil electrically associatedwith the battery, and a first shield contoured over at least twosurfaces of the receive coil defining a receiving area of the receivecoil for concentrating magnetic flux therethrough. Many examples alsoinclude an inductive charging device including a housing with aninterface surface for receiving the electronic device, a transmit coilwithin the housing and positioned below the interface surface, and asecond shield contoured over at least two surfaces of the transmit coildefining a transmitting area of the receive coil for concentratingmagnetic flux therefrom, wherein the transmitting area may be orientedto face the interface surface. In many examples, when the electronicdevice is positioned on the interface surface, the receiving area may beoriented to face the transmitting area.

Embodiments described herein may relate to, include, or take the form ofa method of manufacturing a contoured shield for an electromagnetic coilincluding at least the operations of forming a shield sheet with aplurality of petals, placing the shield sheet on a first surface of theelectromagnetic coil, and folding each of the plurality of petals tocontour to the surface of the electromagnetic coil.

Methods described herein may further include positioning a heatactivated film between the shield and the electromagnetic coil to form ashielded coil assembly, and subsequently heating the shielded coilassembly to activate the heat activated film.

Other embodiments may further include disposing a filler materialbetween adjacent petals.

Other embodiments may include press fitting the contoured shield andelectromagnetic coil assembly onto a mold having a selected shape, forexample, a conical shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Reference will now be made to representative embodiments illustrated inthe accompanying figures. It should be understood that the followingdescriptions are not intended to limit the disclosure to one preferredembodiment. To the contrary, it is intended to cover alternatives,modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit andscope of the described embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

FIG. 1A depicts a front perspective view of an example inductive powertransfer system in an unmated configuration.

FIG. 1B depicts a front perspective view of an example inductive powertransfer system in a mated configuration.

FIG. 1C depicts a side cross section view of the inductive powertransfer system of FIG. 1B along line 1C-1C.

FIG. 2A depicts a top perspective view of an example unshieldedelectromagnetic coil.

FIG. 2B depicts a bottom perspective view of the example electromagneticcoil of FIG. 2A shielded on three sides.

FIG. 2C depicts a top perspective view of an example electromagneticcoil of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A depicts an example side cross-section view taken along line 2-2of FIG. 2C showing a contoured shield at least partially interstitiallyengaging an outer surface of the electromagnetic coil.

FIG. 3B depicts an example side cross-section view taken along line 2-2of FIG. 2C showing a contoured shield at least partially interstitiallyengaging an outer surface of the electromagnetic coil via a heatactivated film.

FIG. 3C depicts an example side cross-section of a shielded coil showinga contoured shield at least partially interstitially engaging an outersurface of the coil, the shield and the coil following an arbitrarycurve.

FIG. 4A depicts an example top plan view of a die cut shield prior toforming onto an electromagnetic coil.

FIG. 4B depicts an example top plan view of a die cut and separatedshield prior to forming onto an electromagnetic coil.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of example operations of a method forapplying a contoured shield to an electromagnetic coil.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of example operations of a method forapplying a contoured shield to an electromagnetic coil.

The use of the same or similar reference numerals in different drawingsindicates similar, related, or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein may relate to, include, or take the form ofimproved methods of and systems for directing flux from a transmit coilto a receive coil within an inductive power transfer system.

An inductive power transfer system typically includes an inductivepower-transmitting component to transmit power and an inductivepower-receiving component to receive power. An inductive power-receivingcomponent may be incorporated within a portable electronic device toprovide a convenient means of wirelessly recharging one or more internalbatteries. An inductive power-transmitting component may be incorporatedwithin a recharging device associated with the portable electronicdevice. Example portable electronic devices may include media players,media storage devices, personal digital assistants, tablet computers,cellular telephones, laptop computers, smart phones, styluses, globalpositioning sensor units, remote control devices, wearable devices,electric vehicles, home appliances, location tracking devices, medicaldata devices, health analysis devices, health monitoring devices, sportsdevices, accessory devices, and so on. Example recharging devices mayinclude docks, stands, clips, plugs, mats, attachments, and so on.

In many examples, a battery-powered electronic device (“accessory”) maybe positioned on a power-transmitting device or surface (“dock”). Inthese systems, an electromagnetic coil within the dock (“transmit coil”)may produce a time-varying electromagnetic flux (“transmitting power”)to induce a current within an electromagnetic coil within accessory(“receive coil”). In other examples, a transmit coil may produce astatic electromagnetic field and may physically move, shift, orotherwise change its position to produce a spatially-varyingelectromagnetic flux to induce a current within the receive coil.

The accessory may use the received current to replenish the charge of arechargeable battery (“receiving power”) or to provide power tooperating components associated with the accessory. In other words, whenthe accessory is positioned on the dock, the dock may wirelesslytransmit power via the transmit coil to the receive coil of theaccessory. I

However, in many examples, the dock often transmits more power than isreceived by the accessory to ensure the accessory receives the requiredand expected amount of power. In other words, a portion of the magneticflux produced by transmit coil does not pass through, and thus does notinduce current within, the receive coil of the accessory. For example,the transmit and receive coils are typically positioned along a sharedcentral axis and are oriented in parallel planes to face one another. Inthis arrangement, a portion of the flux produced the transmit coil maypass behind or beside the transmit coil, into the housing of the dock,or into other portions of the receiver. This unused flux may passthrough and disturb other electronic components within the transmitterand/or receiver and may be dissipated as undesirable heat.

In many cases, heating of the accessory and/or dock may cause damage toelectronic components or housings, reduce the operative life of eitheror both devices, may render the devices unsafe to use for a period oftime, or may prove inconvenient or frustrating to a user compelled towait for the devices to cool.

Accordingly, embodiments described herein relate to, include, and takethe form of improved methods of directing flux from a transmit coil to areceive coil by providing a contoured flux-directing shield on either orboth the transmit and receive coils within an inductive powertransmitting system.

Typical portable electronic devices including one or moreelectromagnetic coils for inductive power transfer may include a planarshield, such as a ferrite sheet, to protect electronic components fromflux generated by a transmit or receive coil. For example, an inductivepower transmitter may include a ferrite sheet layer between a transmitcoil and operational circuitry to protect the circuitry fromdisturbance, interference, or heating resulting from the passage of fluxtherethrough. In other examples, an accessory may include a ferritesheet layer between a receive coil and operational circuitry tosimilarly protect (i.e., direct flux away from) the operationalcircuitry.

Embodiments described herein relate to flux-directing shields forelectromagnetic coils that are contoured to the coil to provideconcentrated flux paths directed toward an axially aligned receive coil.For example, as noted above, transmit and receive coils may bepositioned along a shared central axis and are oriented in parallelplanes to face one another. Embodiments described herein contour acontoured shield around the surfaces of the coils not facing one anothersuch that a concentrated flux path is defined between the front-facingsurfaces of the transmit and receive coils.

In one embodiment with an annular transmit coil having a rectangularcross-section, the contoured shield may have three defined surfaces. Afirst surface of the shield may contour to the interior sidewall of theannular transmit coil. A second surface of the shield may contour to theexterior sidewall of the annular transmit coil. A third surface of theshield may contour to the back surface of the annular transmit coil. Inthis manner, three of four sides of the rectangular cross-section of theannular transit coil may be shielded by the contoured shield. As aresult of the contoured shield, magnetic flux emanating from theinterior sidewall, exterior sidewall, and back surface of the annulartransmit coil may be absorbed by the contoured shield and redirected toexit the shield along the front surface of the transmit coil.

In many embodiments, the contoured shield may be made from aferromagnetic material such as iron or an iron alloy such as ironcobalt, iron nickel, or steel. In further embodiments, other materialsmay be used such as materials having a relatively high magneticpermeability. In still further embodiments, the material selected forthe contoured shield may be a doped polymer. For example, the polymermay be doped with an iron powder or an iron alloy powder. These andother materials may be selected for the contoured shield to provide apath of lower magnetic reluctance for the flux produced by the coil.Accordingly, flux is directed to emanate from the front face of thecoil.

Further embodiments may include a contoured shield that is formed tointerstitially engage the area between individual coils. For example, atransmit coil may include more than one stacks of windings of wirehaving a circular cross-section. In these embodiments, the contouredshield may be formed interstitially within the void space definedbetween the stacked coils. In this manner, the contoured shield may moretightly engage the coil, providing a path of even lower magneticreluctance for the flux produced by the coil. Accordingly, flux isdirected to emanate from the front face of the coil.

The thickness of the contoured shield may vary from embodiment toembodiment. In many examples, the thickness may be selected, at least inpart, upon the magnetic saturation point and permeability of thematerial in addition to the strength of the magnetic field to beproduced by the coil. For example, in certain embodiments, high magneticpermeability may be desirable. One may appreciate that materials withhigh magnetic permeability typically have low magnetic saturationpoints. In these embodiments, the thickness of the contoured shield maydepend on the maximum magnetic field expected from the coil. In furtherembodiments, the contoured shield may be composed of a compositematerial, such as a layered material. Individual layers may be adaptedto have different magnetic permeability, different thickness, or may bemade from different materials.

In further embodiments, the contoured shield may be affixed or adheredto the coil using one or more layers of adhesive. For example, certainembodiments may include a heat activated film adhesive disposed betweenthe contoured shield and the coil. During a production process, thecontoured shield, film, and coil may be heated to permanently adhere thecontoured shield to the coil. In other embodiments, the adhesive may bea curable liquid adhesive or any other type of adhesive.

In further embodiments, the adhesive may be made from a polymer materialthat may be doped with a dopant having high magnetic permeability. Forexample, a heat activated film may be doped with iron powder, an ironalloy powder, or any other high permeability dopant. In this manner, theadhesive itself may provide a path of low magnetic reluctance for theflux produced by the coil.

In many embodiments, a contoured shield may also be applied to multiplesurfaces of a receive coil. In this manner, the contoured shield mayprovide a low path of magnetic reluctance for the flux produced by thetransmit coil such that a greater density of flux passes through thereceive coil.

In many embodiments, the receive coil may be incorporated within aportable electronic device and the transmit coil may be incorporatedwithin a recharging device. In these embodiments, the shielded transmitand receive coils may be positioned within their respective housingswith the open front face positioned outwardly. In this manner, when theportable electronic device and a recharging device are positioned nearbyone another, the contoured shields may direct flux produced by thetransmit coil in the direction of the receive coil.

FIG. 1A depicts a front perspective view of an example inductive powertransfer system in an unmated configuration. The illustrated embodimentshows an inductive power transmitter dock that is configured to coupleto and wirelessly pass power to an inductive power receiver accessorysuch as a portable electronic device or wearable accessory.

The wearable accessory, such as depicted in FIG. 1A, may be configuredto provide health-related information or data such as but not limitedheart rate data, blood pressure data, temperature data, oxygen leveldata, diet/nutrition information, medical reminders, health-related tipsor information, or other health-related data. The wearable accessory mayoptionally convey the health-related information to a separateelectronic device such as a tablet computing device, phone, personaldigital assistant, computer, and so on.

A wearable accessory may include a coupling mechanism to connect a strapor band useful for securing to a user. For example, a smart watch mayinclude a band or strap to secure to a user's wrist. In another example,a wearable health assistant may include a strap to connect around auser's chest, or alternately, a wearable health assistant may be adaptedfor use with a lanyard or necklace. In still further examples, awearable device may secure to or within another part of a user's body.In these and other embodiments, the strap, band, lanyard, or othersecuring mechanism may include one or more electronic components orsensors in wireless or wired communication with the accessory. Forexample, the band secured to a smart watch may include one or moresensors, an auxiliary battery, a camera, or any other suitableelectronic component.

In many examples, a wearable device, such as depicted in FIG. 1A, mayinclude a processor coupled with or in communication with a memory, oneor more communication interfaces, output devices such as displays andspeakers, and one or more input devices such as buttons, dials,microphones, or touch-based interfaces. The communication interface(s)can provide electronic communications between the communications deviceand any external communication network, device or platform, such as butnot limited to wireless interfaces, Bluetooth interfaces, Near FieldCommunication interfaces, infrared interfaces, USB interfaces, Wi-Fiinterfaces, TCP/IP interfaces, network communications interfaces, or anyconventional communication interfaces. The wearable device may provideinformation regarding time, health, statuses or externally connected orcommunicating devices and/or software executing on such devices,messages, video, operating commands, and so forth (and may receive anyof the foregoing from an external device), in addition tocommunications.

Although the system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A depicts a wristwatch, anyelectronic device may be suitable to receive inductive power from aninductive power transmitting dock. For example, a suitable electronicdevice may be any portable or semi-portable electronic device that mayreceive inductive power, and a suitable dock device may be any portableor semi-portable docking station that may wirelessly transmit inductivepower.

Accordingly, the system 100 may include an inductive power transmitter102 and an inductive power receiver 202. The inductive power transmitter102 and the inductive power receiver 202 may each respectively include ahousing to enclose electronic components therein. In many examples, andas depicted, the inductive power receiver 202 may be larger than theinductive power transmitter 102, although such a configuration is notrequired.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inductive power transmitter 102 maybe connected to power, such as an alternating current power outlet, bypower cord 106. In other embodiments, the inductive power transmitter102 may be battery operated. In still further examples, the inductivepower transmitter 102 may include a power cord 106 and an internal orexternal battery. Similarly, although the embodiment is depicted isshown with the power cord 106 coupled to the housing of the inductivepower transmitter 102, the power cord 106 may be connected by anysuitable means. For example, the power cord 106 may be removable and mayinclude a connector that is sized to fit within an aperture orreceptacle opened within the housing of the inductive power transmitter102.

As shown, the inductive power receiver 202 may include a lower surface208 that may interface with, align or otherwise contact an interfacesurface 108 of the inductive power transmitter 102. In this manner, theinductive power receiver 202 and the inductive power transmitter 102 maybe positionable with respect to each other. In certain embodiments, theinterface surface 108 may be configured in a particular shape that mateswith a complementary shape of the inductive power receiver 202, forexample as shown in FIG. 1B. The interface surface 108 may include aconcave shape that follows a selected curve. The bottom surface 208 ofthe inductive power receiver 202 may take a convex shape following thesame or substantially similar curve as the interface surface 108. Inother examples, the interface surface 108 may be substantially flat.

Additionally or alternatively, the inductive power transmitter andreceiver devices 102, 202 can be positioned with respect to each otherusing one or more alignment mechanisms. As one example, one or moremagnetic devices may be included in the transmitter and/or receiverdevices 102, 202 and may be used to align the transmitter and receiverdevices with respect to one another. In another example, one or moreactuators in the transmitter and/or receiver devices 102 can be used toalign the transmitter and receiver devices. And in yet another example,alignment features, such as protrusions and corresponding indentationsin the housings of the transmitter and receiver devices, may be used toalign the transmitter and receiver devices. The design or configurationof the interface surfaces, one or more alignment mechanisms, and one ormore alignment features can be used individually or in variouscombinations thereof.

FIG. 1C depicts a side cross-section view taken along line 1C-1C of FIG.1B, showing the example inductive power transfer system in an alignedconfiguration, including an example system diagram of the inductivepower receiver 202 and the inductive power transmitter 102. Asillustrated, the bottom surface 208 of the inductive power receiver 202contacts the interface surface of the inductive power transmitter 102.

As described partially with respect to FIG. 1A, the inductive powerreceiver 202 may include one or more electronic components within itshousing such as a processor 204 and a receive coil 212. The receive coil212 may have one or more windings and may receive power from theinductive power transmitter 102. Thereafter, the receive coil 212 maypass the received power to the processor 204. The processor 204 may usethe received power to perform or coordinate one or more functions of theinductive power receiver 202 and/or to replenish the charge of a battery206.

The inductive power receiver 202 may also include other electroniccomponents coupled to the processor 204. For example, the inductivepower receiver 202 can include memory 210, a display 216, one or moreinput/output devices 218 such as buttons, force interfaces, touchinterfaces, microphones, and/or speaker(s), communication interfaces forwired and/or wireless communication, and so on.

The inductive power receiver 202 may also include one or more sensorsused by the processor 204 to collect environmental information, userinformation, or any other type of information. Environmental sensors mayinclude weather sensors such as barometric pressure sensors, humiditysensors, particle counters, temperature sensors, moisture sensors,ultraviolet sensors, infrared sensors, airflow and wind sensors,precipitation sensors, accumulation sensors, and so on. User informationsensors may include health-related sensors such as skin conductancesensors, temperature sensors, pulse oximetry sensors, blood pressuresensors, and so on.

The inductive power transmitter 102 may also include a transmit coil 112having one or more windings. The transmit coil 112 may transmit power tothe inductive power receiver 202. The transmit coil 112 may be coupledto a processor 104 that may at least partially control the transmit coil112. For example, in certain embodiments, the processor 104 may drivethe transit coil 112 with a power signal in order to induce a particularvoltage within the receive coil 212. Both the transmit coil 112 and thereceive coil 212 may be shielded by a contoured shield 114, and 214respectively.

The processor 104 may control or periodically adjust one or more aspectsof the power signal applied to the transmit coil 112. For example, theprocessor 104 may change the operating frequency of the power signal. Insome examples, the operating frequency of the power signal may beincreased in order to increase the power received by the receive coil212. In addition, the processor 104 may be used to perform or coordinateother functions of the inductive power transmitter 102.

As noted above, power transfer efficiency between the inductive powertransmitter 102 and the inductive power receiver 202 may be optimizedwhen the receive coil 212 is aligned with the transmit coil 112 along amutual axis. In many examples, a slight misalignment of the inductivepower transmitter 102, for example resulting from manufacturingvariances, and the inductive power receiver 202 may result in asubstantial misalignment of the transmit coil 112 and receive coil 212.In many examples, misalignment may, in turn, substantially reduce powertransfer efficiency. Preferably, the inductive power transmitter 102 andthe inductive power receiver 202 are aligned along a mutual axis 300, asshown in FIG. 1C.

FIG. 2A depicts a top perspective view of an example unshielded transmitcoil 112 that may be included in the embodiments depicted in FIGS.1A-1C. As illustrated, the coil 112 includes several windings of anelectrical conductor such as copper. In other embodiments, an individualwinding may be composed of several independent strands of wire. In manyexamples, the windings may be provided in a substantially annular shape,with one or more layers of windings. As depicted, three layers of fourwindings provides an electromagnetic coil with twelve total turns. Inmany embodiments, the leads of the coil 112 may exit the coil on thesame side. In the illustrated embodiment, the coil 112 has a rectangularcross section, although such a configuration is not required.

FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C depict a bottom perspective view and a topperspective view, respectively, of the example electromagnetic coil ofFIG. 2A having a contoured shield 114 covering three sides of the coil.As depicted, the contoured shield 114 may have three defined surfaces. Afirst surface of the contoured shield 114 may contour to the exteriorsidewall of the coil 112, depicted as the exterior perimeter of the coil112. The first surface may be defined by a plurality of folded petals114 a. The petals 114 a may be evenly spaced around the externalperimeter of the coil 112.

A second surface of the contoured shield 114 may contour to the interiorsidewall of the coil 112. The second surface may be defined by aplurality of folded petals 114 b. As with the petals 114 a, the petals114 b may be evenly spaced around the internal sidewall of the coil 112.

A third surface of the contoured shield 114 may contour to the backsurface of the coil 112. The third surface may define a ring 114 c. Inmany examples, and as depicted, the petals 114 a, 114 b may extend fromthe ring 114 c, bending at an angle to contour to the respectivesidewalls of the layers of windings defining the coil 112. In thismanner, the contoured shield 114 may be formed of a singular, unitarymaterial. Notwithstanding, a unitary piece may not be required orsuitable for each embodiment described herein. For example, the petals114 a, 114 b may be attached or otherwise affixed to the ring 114 c byany suitable means. For example, in certain embodiments, the petals 114a, 114 b may be welded, glued, or otherwise attached to the ring 114 cin a separate manufacturing process.

In this manner, three of four sides of the rectangular cross-section ofthe coil 112 may be shielded by the shield 114. As noted above, as aresult of the contoured shield 114, magnetic flux emanating from theinterior sidewall, exterior sidewall, and back surface of the annulartransmit coil may be absorbed by the contoured shield and redirected toexit the shield along the front surface of the transmit coil. In otherwords, flux may be directed up in relation to the orientation depictedin FIG. 2B, emanating from the unshielded and exposed upper surface ofthe coil 112. Similarly, flux may be directed down in relation to theorientation depicted in FIG. 2C.

Although shown as separated, the petals 114 a, 114 b may be joined,welded, or otherwise bonded to adjacent petals 114 a, 114 b by anysuitable means. In still further embodiments, the areas between adjacentpetals may be filled with a filler material. The filler material may bea material having a high magnetic permeability. For example, the fillermaterial may be an adhesive including a ferromagnetic dopant.

Although the petals 114 a and 114 b are illustrated as substantiallyrectangular, such a configuration is not required and other shapes aresuitable to include with the various embodiments described herein andembodiments related thereto.

In still further embodiments, the contoured shield 114 may be formedfrom three separate components (i.e., outer ring, inner ring, washer)that are welded, glued, or otherwise adhered together.

FIG. 3A depicts an example side cross-section view taken along line 2-2of FIG. 2C showing the contoured shield 114 of FIG. 2C at leastpartially interstitially engaging an outer surface of the coil 112. Forexample, a coil 112 may include more than one stacks of windings of wirehaving a circular cross-section as shown. In these embodiments, thecontoured shield 114 may be formed interstitially within the void spacedefined between the stacked coils. In this manner, the contoured shield114 may more tightly engage the coil 112 along the ring 114 c and petals114 a,114 b thus providing a path of low magnetic reluctance for theflux produced by the coil. Accordingly, flux is directed to emanate fromthe front face of the coil 112. In other words, flux may be directeddown in relation to the orientation depicted in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3B depicts an example side cross-section view taken along line 2-2of FIG. 2C showing a contoured shield 114 at least partiallyinterstitially engaging an outer surface of the coil 112 via a heatactivated film 116. As depicted, the contoured shield 114 may be affixedor adhered to the coil 112 using one or more layers of adhesive, such asthe heat activated film 116. The heat activated film 116 adhesive may bedisposed between the contoured shield 114 and the coil 112. During aproduction process, the contoured shield 114, the heat activated film116, and the coil 112 may be heated to permanently adhere the contouredshield 114 to the coil 112. In other embodiments, the adhesive may be acurable liquid adhesive or any other type of adhesive.

In further embodiments, the heat activated film 116 may be made from apolymer material that may be doped with a dopant having high magneticpermeability. For example, the heat activated film 116 may be doped withiron powder, an iron alloy powder, or any other high permeabilitydopant. In this manner, the heat activated film 116 itself may provide apath of low magnetic reluctance for the flux produced by the coil.

In other embodiments, the contoured shield 114 and the coil 112 may bepress fit in a manufacturing process to profile an arbitrary shape. Forexample, as depicted in FIG. 3C, the coil 112 and the contoured shield114 following an upward slope. One may appreciate that a slopingcross-section such as illustrated may represent a cross section of aportion of a conical annular coil. Although illustrated as following arising slope and, by extension, forming a conical coil, the coil 112 andcontoured shield 114 may be formed to follow any arbitrary shape. Inmany examples, the coil 112 and contoured shield 114 may be formed tofollow a curvature of a housing of a device, such as the inductive powerreceiver 202 as shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. For example, the coil 112 andcontoured shield 114 may be formed to follow the curvature of the bottomsurface 208 as shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 4A depicts an example top plan view of a die cut shield prior toforming onto an electromagnetic coil. In certain embodiments, thecontoured shield 114 may be initially formed in a die cutting process.The die cutting process may define the pre-contoured shape of thecontoured shield 114, for example by defining the dimensions of each ofthe petals 114 a and 114 b.

FIG. 4B depicts an example top plan view of a die cut and separatedshield prior to forming onto an electromagnetic coil. In theseembodiments, a contoured shield 114 may be electrically separated intoindividual components in order to prevent or discourage the excitationof eddy currents within the shield material. In the illustratedembodiment, cuts may be made in the ring 114 c that separate the ring114 c and all petals 114 a and petals 114 b.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow chart of example operations of a method forapplying a contoured shield to an electromagnetic coil. The method maybegin at 502 in which a sheet of material may be die cut to form ashield. At 504, a heat activated film may be applied to the die cutshield portion. In some embodiments the heat activated film may beapplied before the die cutting process of 502. Next at 506, the heatactivated film and die cut shield may be press fit onto the coil. In thesame, or subsequent operation, each of the petal portions may be foldedaround the coil. Next at 508, heat may be applied to the assembly toactivate the heat activated film. In some embodiments, the heat may alsopartially melt or soften the material selected for the die cut shieldsuch that the shield flows to occupy void space between individual turnsof the coil. In this manner, the shield may become interstitiallyintegrated with the coil.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow chart of example operations of a method forapplying a contoured shield to an electromagnetic coil. The method mayinclude operations similar to the method depicted in FIG. 5. Forexample, the method may begin at 602 in which a sheet of material may bedie cut to form a shield. At 604, a heat activated film may be appliedto the die cut shield portion. At 606, the heat activated film and diecut shield may be press fit onto the coil. Thereafter, at 608, heat maybe applied to the assembly to activate the heat activated film. Lastly,at 610, the coil and shield may be press fit onto a contoured mold thatmay form the coil and shield into an arbitrary shape as described abovewith reference, for example, to FIG. 3C.

In the present disclosure, the methods disclosed may be implemented assets of instructions or software readable by a device. Further, it isunderstood that the specific order or hierarchy of steps in the methodsdisclosed are examples of sample approaches. In other embodiments, thespecific order or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearrangedwhile remaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanyingmethod claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order,and are not necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order orhierarchy presented.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the describedembodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatthe specific details are not required in order to practice the describedembodiments. Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the specificembodiments described herein are presented for purposes of illustrationand description. They are not target to be exhaustive or to limit theembodiments to the precise forms disclosed. It will be apparent to oneof ordinary skill in the art that many modifications and variations arepossible in view of the above teachings.

We claim:
 1. A shield for an annular coil comprising: an outer portioncontoured to an outer sidewall of the annular coil; an inner portioncontoured to an inner sidewall of the annular coil; and a top portioncontoured to a top portion of the annular coil; wherein the top portioncouples the inner portion to the outer portion.
 2. The shield of claim1, wherein the annular coil is contained within a first housing.
 3. Theshield of claim 1, wherein the shield is made from soft magneticmaterial.
 4. The shield of claim 3, wherein the shield is made from atleast one of the metals within the group consisting of iron, ironsilicates, iron-cobalt, manganese-zinc, nickel, and nickel-zinc.
 5. Theshield of claim 1, wherein the shield is made from a doped materialselected from one of the group consisting of plastic, glass, andcomposite material.
 6. The shield of claim 5, wherein the doped materialcomprises a dopant made from a metal powder.
 7. The shield of claim 1,wherein the outer portion comprises a plurality of individual petals. 8.The shield of claim 7, further comprising a filler material disposedbetween individual petals.
 9. The shield of claim 1, wherein the innerportion comprises a plurality of individual petals.
 10. The shield ofclaim 9, further comprising a filler material disposed betweenindividual petals.
 9. The shield of claim 1, further comprising anadhesive layer disposed between the shield and the annular coil.
 10. Theshield of claim 9, wherein the adhesive layer comprises a heat activatedfilm.
 11. The shield of claim 9, wherein the adhesive layer is made froma doped material.
 12. The shield of claim 11, wherein the doped materialcomprises a dopant made from a metal powder.
 13. An inductive chargingsystem comprising: an electronic device comprising: a rechargeablebattery; a receive coil electrically associated with the battery; and afirst shield contoured over at least two surfaces of the receive coildefining a receiving area of the receive coil for concentrating magneticflux therethrough.
 14. The inductive charging system of claim 13,further comprising: an inductive charging device comprising: a housingcomprising an interface surface for receiving the electronic device; atransmit coil within the housing and positioned below the interfacesurface; and a second shield contoured over at least two surfaces of thetransmit coil defining a transmitting area of the receive coil forconcentrating magnetic flux therefrom; wherein: the transmitting area isoriented to face the interface surface.
 15. The inductive chargingsystem of claim 14, wherein when the electronic device is received onthe interface surface, the receiving area is oriented to face thetransmitting area.
 16. A method of manufacturing a contoured shield foran electromagnetic coil comprising the operations of: forming a shieldsheet comprising a plurality of petals; placing the shield sheet on afirst surface of the electromagnetic coil; and folding each of theplurality of petals to contour to the surface of the electromagneticcoil.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: positioning a heatactivated film between the shield and the electromagnetic coil to form ashielded coil assembly; heating the shielded coil assembly to activatethe heat activated film.
 18. The method of claim 16, further comprisingdisposing a filler material between adjacent petals.
 19. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising press fitting the contoured shield andelectromagnetic coil assembly onto a mold having a selected shape. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the selected shape is a cone.